祈福楼

(I know I looked awfully tired in the photo, but the 6 looked good! And 祈福楼 is just in front of xitong)

i am not writing because there are alot of thoughts to write. I am writing to capture moments. Moments I want to remember.

today, the prc scholars i had taught in 2008, junyan, xitong, mao ye, yuanxi, shen dai, jiangran came to my place. They would be leaving for china next week, and after that, how things will fall out is anybody's guess. Some may go US, UK, Switzerland; a few may stay in Spore. When I will see them again, I dont know.

I always have a soft spot for students that came over to study. It is a young age to leave their family at 15 or 16, or even younger. When I was in charge of scholars in my other school, I would invite them over to my place for a meal. To me, that is hospitality. Mum agreed, and would cook for them.

So, i was glad to be able to invite them before each go their way. The girls cooked here (junyan was the expert cook), i added a couple of dishes. It was a good time, almost 7 hours. Shendai and Jiangran gave me a d-i-y 祈福楼 with a bell. Everyone signed on it. If you make a wish, and hit the bell 3 times with the 'gong' provided, your wish will come true somehow, Shendai said.

If I was to make a wish, I would wish we can have the same gathering together some years later, to know how each of them would be. I would wish they would all be well and happy.

They left just before 11. At the moment, when they left, I felt that pang, that 感慨。I didnt dare articulate farewell. It would be quite 伤感。 Didnt expect to feel that way. Actually, I always felt that pang when my students graduated batch by batch. But today's sense of poignancy was quite distinct, almost with that sense of 无奈. It is almost like a parent, seeing off their children abroad. They have to take flight to explore the unknowns, to secure their future. And it is for me to wish them well.

Maybe it is because unlike teaching in secondary schools, these are bigger kids. So the conversations were on a different platform.

Actually we had not been close the last 2 years. It was only the last 2 months that I caught up with a few of them because of reference letter. I was pleasantly surprise to realise they were still comfortable with me. The conversations over the past weeks were interesting, tracing their growth and understanding each better. And strangely, we converged on many points over issues, including what made a good teacher. Was glad in particular that they were appreciative of good teaching. Except they agreed they should have expressed it directly to the teacher directly, which they failed to, as in the case of dc, who really is an excellent teacher. sd said of all his math courses, he enjoyed ppv the most under dc. He should have said that to dc. Good teachers do not always get the encouragement that they need.

The dinner was meant really to be a gesture of hospitality. But it turned out to be a bonding, at least to me. Perhaps this is the end of a phase for me. For all I know, I may never see them again.

But, I am glad to have taught them, known them, and to have this gathering.

Wherever they go, whatever they be, I wish them well, very very well.

不在乎天长地久，只在乎曾经拥有。诚心地祝福你们。